Assessing the institutional capacity for e-Government in the Telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe: The case of POTRAZ.

Abstract

The level of e-government in most African states including Zimbabwe is considered low compared to other Continents. The country lacks institutional mechanisms for ICTs integration into the country’s development strategies. Thus, the government of Zimbabwe still heavily relies on the manual based system and in-person visits to government offices to satisfy the requirements of specific transactions. The objectives of the research study were set as follows; to identify the policy and legal frameworks governing e-government processes in Zimbabwe; to analyse the impediments to institutional capacity in the telecommunications sector for e-government and to recommend improvements to the institutional capacity of the telecommunications sector. The literature review showed that the successful implementation of e-government in the public sector results in efficient and effective government processes, less paper work and transparency. In political science institution is regarded as the formal and informal rules used to translate citizen’s preferences into public policy. E-government involves the application of ICTs to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The theoretical framework looked into the New Public Management paradigm (NPM). The case study indicated e-government programs in countries like South Africa, Ghana and India. Qualitative and quantitative approaches where chosen to triangulate the research findings. Interviews were carried out and questionnaires distributed to the staff members of POTRAZ as the target population. From the research findings it emerged that Zimbabwe has not surpassed the Interactive phase of e-government, also the policy and legal frameworks are inadequate to provide for capacity building including life-long learning. The Government Internet Service Provider (GISP) is not being fully utilized by government officials. The study concludes that the government of Zimbabwe is failing to partner private companies and investors in the ICTs sector resulting in the still-birth of ICTs in the country. To date Zimbabwe has failed to launch a policy that promotes cyber-security. Home grown solutions in software applications and development are not adequately addressed by the current policy and legal framework. The study recommends that the government should promote the use of digital signatures and encryption to protect user ID’s; increase e-government stakeholder participation; and focus on public private partnerships to improve on ICT development programs.